Okinawa 1st district

Okinawa 1st District
Parliamentary constituency
for the Japanese House of Representatives
Numbered map of Okinawa Prefecture single-member districts
PrefectureOkinawa
Proportional DistrictKyushu
Electorate270,872 (2016)
Current constituency
Created1994
SeatsOne
PartyJapanese Communist Party
RepresentativeSeiken Akamine
Created fromOkinawa's at-large "medium-sized" district
MunicipalitiesNaha and parts of Shimajiri District (Kumejima, Tokashiki, Zamami, Aguni, Tonaki, Minamidaitō, Kitadaitō)

Okinawa 1st district is a constituency of the House of Representatives in the Diet of Japan (national legislature). It is located in Okinawa Prefecture and encompasses the city of Naha and parts of Shimajiri District (Kumejima, Tokashiki, Zamami, Aguni, Tonaki, Minamidaitō, Kitadaitō). As of 2016, 270,872 eligible voters were registered in the district.[1]

The district has been represented by Seiken Akamine of the Japanese Communist Party (JCP) since the 2014 general election, when he defeated the incumbent member Kōnosuke Kokuba from the Liberal Democratic Party. Akamine is the only JCP politician in the country to currently hold a single-seat constituency.

Background

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The 1994 electoral reforms split Okinawa's at-large constituency into four single-district constituencies. In the first three elections after the reforms, Okinawa's 1st district was won by Tai'ichi Shiraho of New Frontier Party and later New Kōmeitō (NKP). The district also features several significant voting blocs. The reliable and sizable Soka Gakkai voting bloc in Naha helped to deliver the district to Shiraho in those elections. The Japanese Communist Party (JCP) has also maintained a relatively large share of vote in the district, banking on the urban voter support and local opposition to the US military bases in Okinawa. Another bloc consists of corporate workers that tend to support the LDP.

In the 2014 general election, the district was won by JCP's Seiken Akamine. Akamine's election was a watershed as it marked the first time a JCP candidate managed to win a single-seat constituency since the 1996 general election. This is also only the third constituency JCP has won since the introduction of parallel voting. The anti-base camp aligned to Okinawa Governor Takeshi Onaga created an alliance behind Akamine to oppose the LDP incumbent at that time, Kōnosuke Kokuba. Kokuba supports the relocation of the US air base in Futenma to Henoko, following the policy of the LDP and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The centre-right vote was split further with the candidacy of former representative Mikio Shimoji. A strong anti-base vote and the split in the centre-right camp delivered the district to Akamine, completing JCP's surge in the election.[2][3]

Akamine retained the district in the 2017 general election despite the JCP losing seats across the country. Akamine managed to keep the anti-base camp solidly behind him, giving him a slightly larger majority than 2014.[4]

List of representatives

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Representative Party Dates Notes
Tai'ichi Shiraho NFP 1996 – 1998
NKP 1998 – 2005
Mikio Shimoji Ind 2005 – 2007
PNP 2007 – 2012
Kōnosuke Kokuba LDP 2012 – 2014
Seiken Akamine JCP 2014 –

Election results

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2024
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
JCP Seiken Akamine
LDP Kōnosuke Kokuba endorsed by Kōmeitō)
Independent Mikio Shimoji
Sanseitō Tomohisa Wada New
Turnout
2021[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
JCP Seiken Akamine 61,519 42.17 Increase2.27
LDP Kōnosuke Kokuba (elected by PR, endorsed by Kōmeitō) 54,532 37.38 Increase1.52
Independent Mikio Shimoji 29,827 20.45 Decrease2.08
Turnout 55.89 Decrease1.47
JCP hold Swing Increase0.37
2017[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
JCP Seiken Akamine 60,605 39.90 Increase0.08
LDP Kōnosuke Kokuba (elected by PR, endorsed by Kōmeitō) 54,468 35.86 Decrease0.73
Ishin Mikio Shimoji (elected by PR, endorsed by Kibō) 34,215 22.53 Decrease1.06
Happiness Realization Reiko Shimoji 2,594 1.71 N/A
Majority 6,137 4.04
Turnout 57.36 Increase0.99
JCP hold Swing Increase0.41
2014[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
JCP Seiken Akamine (endorsed by SDP, PLP, OSMP, the Greens and Shinfūkai) 57,935 39.82 Increase21.43
LDP Kōnosuke Kokuba (elected by PR, endorsed by Kōmeitō) 53,241 36.59 Decrease6.48
Innovation Mikio Shimoji (elected by PR, endorsed by PGOR) 34,328 23.59 Decrease7.35
Majority 4,694 3.33
Turnout 56.37
JCP gain from LDP Swing Increase13.97
2012[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
LDP Kōnosuke Kokuba (endorsed by NKP) 65,233 43.07 Increase5.07
People's New Mikio Shimoji (endorsed by DPJ) 46,865 30.94 Decrease15.58
JCP Seiken Akamine (elected by PR, endorsed by OSMP) 27,856 18.39 Increase4.09
Restoration Kunihiro Yasuda (endorsed by YP) 11,514 7.60 N/A
Majority 18,368 12.13
Turnout
LDP gain from People's New Swing Increase10.33
2009[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
People's New Mikio Shimoji (endorsed by DPJ) 77,152 46.52 Increase2.75
LDP Kōnosuke Kokuba (endorsed by NKP) 63,017 38.00 Decrease2.84
JCP Hisako Hokama (endorsed by OSMP) 23,715 14.30 Increase0.31
Happiness Realization Naruki Taira 1,958 1.18
Majority 14,135 8.52
People's New hold Swing Increase2.80
2005[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Independent Mikio Shimoji (endorsed by DPJ and OSMP) 72,384 43.77
NK Tai'ichi Shiraho (endorsed by LDP) 67,540 40.84
JCP Seiken Akamine (elected by PR, endorsed by OSMP) 23,123 13.99
Independent Hideyuki Uehara 2,307 1.40
2003
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
NK Tai'ichi Shiraho (endorsed by LDP and NCP) 58,330 37.0
Independent Mikio Shimoji 52,374 33.3
Democratic Noboru Shimajiri (endorsed by SDP and OSMP) 27,209 17.3
JCP Seiken Akamine (elected by PR, endorsed by OSMP) 19,528 12.4
2000
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
NK Tai'ichi Shiraho (endorsed by LDP and NCP) 86,255 52.6
JCP Seiken Akamine (elected by PR, endorsed by OSMP) 50,709 30.9
Liberal League Kiyotaka Maeda (endorsed by SDP) 27,168 16.6
1996
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
New Frontier Tai'ichi Shiraho (endorsed by SDP) 52,975 30.2
JCP Saneyoshi Furuken (elected by PR, endorsed by OSMP) 47,379 27.0
LDP Mikio Shimoji (elected by PR) 44,488 25.4
Liberal League Shunshirō Nishime 23,238 13.3
NP-Sakigake Noboru Shimajiri (endorsed by DPJ) 7,223 4.1

References

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  1. ^ Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC): [1] (in Japanese)
  2. ^ Kyodo News (15 December 2014). "LDP loses heavily in Okinawa". Japan Times. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
  3. ^ Aoki, Mizuho (15 December 2014). "Resurgent JCP has night to remember". Japan Times. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
  4. ^ Jiji Press (3 December 2017). "JCP chief Shii pledges all-out effort to create stronger opposition coalition". Japan Times. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
  5. ^ 開票速報 小選挙区：沖縄- 2021衆議 (in Japanese). NHK. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  6. ^ 小選挙区開票速報：沖縄県（定数4） (in Japanese). Asahi Shimbun. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
  7. ^ 小選挙区：沖縄県 - 開票速報 - 2014総選挙: 朝日新聞デジタル (in Japanese). Asahi Shimbun. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
  8. ^ 第46回総選挙>小選挙区開票速報：沖縄県 (in Japanese). Asahi Shimbun. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
  9. ^ 小選挙区開票結果ー沖縄県１区 (in Japanese). Asahi Shimbun. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
  10. ^ ２００５総選挙>小選挙区開票結果ー沖縄県１区 (in Japanese). Asahi Shimbun. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
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